LASEK Review by Stephanie Clarke

Glasgow Clinic Manager

Stephanie's optician was very negative about laser eye surgery, but when she started working for Optimax and saw how successful the treatment was and how happy patients were, she decided to go ahead with treatment. Now she is happy to tell anyone contemplating treatment how positive her experience has been.

I had been interested in laser eye treatment for many years and had worn contact lenses for over 10 years. My optician was very negative about the laser eye treatment but when I started working for Optimax, I saw first- hand how successful the treatment was and how happy the patients were after treatment, so decided to have treatment myself.

My prescription was about -4.00 and Dr Anwar recommended LASEK treatment as my corneas were relatively thin. Obviously, I was nervous on the day of treatment, even though I had seen thousands of successful treatments. I was more nervous of the pain afterwards than I was of the procedure itself or the results.

After the treatment I went straight home and experienced everything that was expected - eyes closed over, discomfort which felt like stinging or grit in the eyes, but I really felt that it was more uncomfortable than painful and no worse than a bad headache. For the next two days, I rested my eyes and took my sleeping tablets and painkillers. By Monday, I could open my eyes and the discomfort had gone. My vision was still blurry, but I could see more than I had been able to see without contact lenses for many years. On Tuesday I went back to work, and though my vision wasn't perfect (close up work was slightly blurred) it improved visibly each day and I had driving standard vision. My vision continued improving, though not visibly after the first two weeks and I now have vision that is better than I achieved with glasses or contact lenses before treatment.

Everyday things like watching TV in bed before going to sleep, seeing the alarm clock in the morning and swimming, which were impossible without my contact lenses in before, I now take for granted. I have no regrets at all about having the treatment, and happily tell any people enquiring about treatment what my experience is, and how totally positive my experience has been.